


The Children of an Idle Brain

by TalkMagically



Series: Be Rough With Love [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Assault, Background Michael/Eve, But it is very minor, Drunk Driving, M/M, Nickifer, Sexual Assault, This is 100 percent angst, This is not the story you want to read if you want a happy ending, background megstiel, bigoted mindset
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 11:59:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13410795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalkMagically/pseuds/TalkMagically
Summary: Eighteen months before the events of ‘By My Heel, I Care Not’, Lucifer wasn’t single and looking to jump Sam Winchester. He was in a committed relationship with one Nick Landersen. It had its standard ups and downs, as with any romantic relationship. They loved each other to the moon and back. But, as we know, it eventually ended somehow.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read as a stand alone story, but I highly recommend reading 'By My Heel, I Care Not' along with this. This story explains things referenced in that one.

“I’m not entirely sure I want to know what you’re doing,” Nick laughed as he watched Lucifer climb up the side of the house via the gutter pipe.

“You’ll know once I know,” Lucifer shot back over his shoulder.

“That’s comforting,” Nick said.

Lucifer chuckled as he reached the roof of the porch, taking a moment to relax now that he was no longer at risk of falling off the pipe. His mother would kill him if she saw him up on the roof at the moment. She was always paranoid that one of the kids would do something stupid and get themselves killed. Luckily, Lucifer’s father was more laid back and kept his wife’s paranoia in check. Most of the time, at least.

“What’s going on? Lucifer, why are you up there? Get down! Mom’s going to have a fit if she sees you,” Michael said, having stepped out of the house when he heard Lucifer scuffling up the pipe.

“Live a little, Mikey! I’ve always wanted to see what everything looked like from up here,” Lucifer said. He looked down at Michael and Nick with a grin. “You know, the roof is more than big enough to fit us all.”

“Oh, hell no. You are _not_ pulling me into your nonsense. Eve and I have dinner reservations. I’d rather not have to cancel them because I had to take you to the ER for a broken collarbone,” Michael rambled.

“Finally asking?” Nick inquired, pulling his attention away from the idiot on the roof.

“Eve’s already dreaming about what color theme she wants for the wedding. It’s not exactly my best kept secret,” Michael said. He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and handed it to Nick to let him take a look. The diamond ring glittered in the sunlight the moment Nick opened the box.

“Absolutely gorgeous. I know Eve will love it. What size is it?” Nick asked, closing the ring box and handing it back to Michael.

“It’s 3 carats. And she better love it. If not, I’m returning it and using the money as a down payment to replace a part in my car. It’s finally breaking down,” Michael laughed.

“Oi! Attention whore on the roof ain’t getting the attention he requires!” Lucifer called down to Nick and Michael.

“If you require attention, then I’ll be more than happy to fetch Mom for you,” Michael said. Lucifer replied with a vulgar hand gesture.

“I’ll be up there in a moment. Hold your horses,” Nick spoke up before the brothers could get to arguing. He turned back to Michael to give a smile. “I hope dinner goes as planned. You’ll have to tell us how it went tomorrow morning.”

“Will do. And don’t let my stupid brother get himself killed out here,” Michael said before heading back inside to get ready.

“You placate him too much,” Lucifer commented as Nick finally grabbed onto the gutter pipe to attempt to follow Lucifer up to the roof.

“Michael’s your brother. You should be doing what I’m doing,” Nick grunted between hikes up the pipe. Lucifer reached for his hand once Nick was in arm’s length. Nick wasn’t going to deny the help and grabbed Lucifer’s hand so he could be pulled up the rest of the way.

“Darling, I’m sure Michael views you as a brother already. You’re fine doing it all on your own,” Lucifer grinned.

“Is it that obvious that he likes me more than you?” Nick asked facetiously.

Lucifer fake pouted in response and turned away to look out over the yard and neighborhood. Everything looked so different from higher up. He briefly wondered about climbing up further, to the peak of the house, but that wasn’t something he was willing to do when his mother was home. Lucifer would have to plan that endeavour for a day when his parents were out-of-town. And after he briefed Ruby on the shenanigans.

“Now that we’ve reached the top of the world, can we return to solid ground? I’d like us to do something together at some point today,” Nick commented.

“Okay, fine. I guess the thrill of being on a solid roof is just too much for you,” Lucifer caved. “Does the damsel need me to go down first so I can catch him incase he falls?”

“Funny. I was about to ask the same thing,” Nick said. He slipped back over the edge of the roof and slowly slid down the pipe, careful not to get his hands caught on anything that would tear them up. Lucifer laughed sarcastically at Nick’s crack at him and followed Nick down the pipe as soon as Nick was back on the ground.

* * *

 

Lucifer pressed his face into the crook of Nick’s neck as they stretched out on the couch in the rec room of Lucifer’s parents’ house. Lucifer wasn’t paying the least bit of attention to the movie Nick, Gabriel, and Castiel were watching. Right now, he was cold and needed to steal Nick’s body heat.

“Luce, why don’t you just go put on a sweater if you’re cold? You know the AC isn’t getting turned off anytime soon. Summer’s only started,” Gabriel said between mouthfuls of popcorn.

“Why go grab a sweater when I’ve got a body-sized heater right here?” Lucifer replied. Nick’s neck and chest vibrated with laughter, sending tickling sensations through Lucifer’s face.

“He’s got a point. It’s kinda my job to share body heat with him,” Nick said.

“We really don’t need to know what you two do in the bedroom,” Gabriel said, turning away from the movie to give Lucifer and Nick a look.

“Gabriel, you’re a pervert and I love you,” Lucifer said with exacerbation.

“Which reminds me,” Gabriel said. He turned his attention to Castiel. “How was the date last night? What was her name again?”

“Meg. And it went fine,” Castiel said without removing his eyes from the TV screen.

“Fine? Just fine? Come on, you gotta give us more than that,” Gabriel whined.

“What’s this ‘it went fine’ bullshit I’m hearing?” Lucifer said, finally pulling his face away from Nick’s neck.

Castiel sighed but refused to look either Lucifer or Gabriel in the face. To do so would open the door for more pestering. He really shouldn’t have told them about his date.

“Just that. It went fine. It was a first date, guys. It’s not like we were getting to know each other. We’ve known each other for a few years already, which means you should have remembered her name, Gabriel,” Castiel said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. As if I can remember the names of all the friends of everyone who lives in this house,” Gabriel muttered.

“Yeah, baby, say my name,” Nick said in a salacious tone. Lucifer exploded in laughter and buried his face in Nick’s neck again. Castiel also burst into laughter, ignoring the dirty look Gabriel was throwing them all.

“I will pay you a month’s salary to _never_ say that to me in that tone again, _Nick_ ,” Gabriel hissed, shuddering.

“Deal!” Nick agreed between chuckles.

“Lucifer, sweetie!” Lucifer and Gabriel’s mother called from down the hall. “Lilith’s on the phone for you!”

Lucifer’s laughter ended immediately with a groan, which only caused Castiel to laugh harder and for Gabriel to join in.

“Remind me again why you’re friends with her if she annoys you so much,” Nick said. Lucifer grunted and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the couch so he could stand.

“Kindergarten friendships are hard to get rid of once they’ve lasted as long as this,” Lucifer replied with no further explanation. He gave Nick a pouty face before leaving and heading down the hall to fetch the landline phone from his mother. Lilith probably called the landline because she knew he’d be forced to answer once his mother called for him to come pick it up.

“I set the handset down over there,” Judith Shurley said as Lucifer entered the kitchen, motioning towards the island counter behind her.

“Thanks, Mom,” Lucifer said, pressing a kiss to her cheek as he passed her seat at the kitchen table. The table was covered edge to edge in her latest crafting project. It looked like meals were going to be in the dining room for the foreseeable future. Lucifer let out a sigh before picking up the phone handset. “Yeah, this is Lucifer.”

“Hey, Lucifer!” Lilith greeted in a peppy tone that irritated the fuck out of Lucifer. “It’s been forever since we’ve had the chance to talk and catch up. I figured a phone call would be best. You’re not busy, are you?”

Lucifer stepped into the hallway and glanced down the hall, watching the TV light flicker out of the rec room as the guys continued watching the movie without him. Lilith always had the worst timing. With it being 5pm on a Friday, she had to know he’d be busy.

“No, not too much. Just watching a movie with the guys,” Lucifer said. He pressed his back against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. He really didn’t know why he was still friends with Lilith. He couldn’t remember the last time he actually enjoyed doing anything with her.

“Eve mentioned something about a last minute party this weekend, but she had to skedaddle to her dinner reservation with Michael. Do you know anything about it?” Lilith asked.

Oh, yeah. That’s right. Lilith was best friend’s with Eve, Michael’s soon-to-be-fiance. That’s why she was still around. Lucifer adored his future sister-in-law, so he put up with remaining friends with her annoying best friend.

“Nope!” Lucifer said. If Eve hadn’t told Lilith about how she knew Michael was going to propose that evening, then Lucifer wasn’t going to ruin the surprise for her. “I didn’t even know there was going to be a party this weekend. I’ll have to interrogate Michael once he gets home. Maybe he knows something.”

“Just figured I’d ask. Whenever Eve says there’s a party, that usually means Michael will also be there. And everyone knows Michael drags you along, too.”

“I wouldn’t call it dragging, Lilith,” Lucifer said. He picked at the pilling on his jeans. “If there’s any dragging involved, it tends to be me dragging Nick. He’s not that much of a party animal.”

“Well…” Lilith began, but she went silent. Lucifer could tell she wanted to say something not-so-nice about Nick - she never did like the idea of Lucifer dating a man - but Lilith knew not to go far on that thin ice. “If you find anything out about the party, let me know. A girl needs to know how to dress for these kinds of things.”

“Will do,” Lucifer promised. He sighed and glanced down the hallway again, noticing the light in the rec room being turned on. The movie must have ended. “Listen, the guys are calling me back to the rec room. Catch up at this so-called party Michael and Eve are planning behind our backs?”

“Alright. I’ll hold you to that. Talk to you later!” Lilith said.

“Have a good night,” Lucifer replied before hanging up. He set the handset down on the floor before letting out another sigh. Ruby is going to give him so much shit when he asks her to play interference at Michael and Eve’s engagement party.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucifer weaved his way through the crowd, careful to avoid bumping into anyone and spilling the drinks in his hands. He was impressed that Michael and Eve were able to get the party room at the club on such short notice. Then again, he didn’t know when the room was booked. Michael probably booked the room the same day he bought the ring.

“About time your pansy ass got back! I was about to go fetch my drink, myself!” Ruby yelled over the music as Lucifer handed her glass over once he reached the door to the party room.

“Feel free to do that next time!” Lucifer yelled back, ushering Ruby through the door.

The noise level dropped immediately after the door closed behind them. The party room was definitely the best place for Michael and Eve’s party. All the fun of the club with the comfort of a heavily insulated room that kept the music quiet enough that you didn’t have to scream over it.

“So, how long of an engagement do you two want to have? A long one? A short one? Eloping at the courthouse tomorrow?” Lilith gushed to Eve as the two of them sat on the lounge couch.

“It’ll be at least a year. We have minor savings between the two of us, so we’ll need some time to save up before the wedding. We don’t want our parents paying for  _ everything _ ,” Eve replied.

Ruby gave Lucifer a disgusted look as the two of them passed the couch to join Michael, Gabriel, and a few of the others at the pool tables in the back of the room. Lucifer chuckled and elbowed Ruby lightly. He knew she hated ‘gushy bullshit’, as she called it, but it was something they all would have to put up with from Eve and Michael until after the wedding.

“Come on, Mike. You have to have your bachelor party down at the Sphinx!” Gabriel exclaimed at Michael, who rolled his eyes before taking his shot.

“Gabriel, the last time I checked, the planning of the bachelor’s party was the Best Man’s responsibility. I love you, but you’re crazy if you think you’re my Best Man,” Michael said.

“Court jester, perhaps,” Anna piped up from her stool. Gabriel threw his cousin a glare.

“Only if you’re the court harlot,” Gabriel shot back. Anna gave him a grin and took a long swig from her bottle of beer. Gabriel rolled his eyes and turned back to Michael. “You still get final say, Mike!”

“If you’re so antsy to start planning my bachelor’s party this far ahead of schedule, bug Lucifer,” Michael said. He took another shot, sinking the 8 ball.

“And since when did this development happen where I’m suddenly in charge of your bachelor’s party?” Lucifer spoke up. He and Ruby grabbed seats on a couple empty stools, both of them shaking their heads when Anna offered a couple pool cues to them.

“Who else am I going to pick as my Best Man, Luce? Raphael?” Michael said, giving Lucifer a grin.

“You sure you wanna trust Lucifer with the job?” Ruby asked. “He’s known to forget shit. He might accidentally leave the rings at home the day of the wedding.”

“Oi, I’m right here,” Lucifer said, elbowing Ruby again before turning his attention back to Michael. “It’s just very presumptuous of you to assume that I’d even want to be your best man.”

Michael set his cue down and spread his arms out in a ‘come on’ gesture while an amused smirk grew on his face.

“Lucifer, will you do me the honor of being my Best Man?” Michael asked with heavy sarcasm.

“Well, of course! I thought you’d never ask, my favorite older brother!” Lucifer exclaimed with extra enthusiasm, causing the group around the pool table to burst into laughter.

“And people doubt you two are related,” Ruby said between laughs.

“Eh, it wasn’t always like that. At one time, it was obvious we were brothers. But then our parents gave us more siblings,” Lucifer cracked.

“Sharing a bedroom because we had to and not because we wanted to did put a bit of a damper on the relationship,” Michael included. He began pulling the pool balls out of the pockets, removing the triangle from its hook under the table so he could set up a new round.

“Speaking of putting a damper on something,” Lucifer started, glancing over at the couch Eve and Lilith were still sitting on. He leaned forward and continued in a stage whisper so Michael could hear him. “I take it blondie is Eve’s Maid of Honor?”

“Sorry,” Michael replied with a frown. Lucifer groaned and took a long drink from his glass.

“This is a Hell of your own creation, Lucifer. You should just be blunt with her,” Ruby said, patting Lucifer on the shoulder.

“Mom would have a fit if I got as blunt as I’d have to be for Lilith to catch a hint,” Lucifer whispered back. He glanced over at the couch again before taking another drink from his glass.

“Where’s Nick?” Michael asked. He walked over to stand next to Lucifer and Ruby while Anna took her turn starting the round. “Was he too busy to come today? I know it was last minute.”

“He got called into work this morning. A coworker had to take their kid into the ER last night because the kid broke her arm during gymnastics practice, apparently,” Lucifer explained. “And you know how he is if he works during the weekend. He’s most likely going to pull an all-nighter tonight.”

“Fair’s fair, Lucifer. You’ll most likely be doing the same to him once you’ve gotten your doctorate and start working shifts at a hospital,” Ruby pointed out.

“We will never see each other,” Lucifer said, groaning at the idea.

“Welcome to adulthood,” Michael chuckled, patting Lucifer on the shoulder.

“Can I skip straight to retirement?” Lucifer asked with a pout.

“No,” Ruby and Michael answered in stereo. Michael let out another chuckle before heading back to the pool table to take his turn.

“Now, come on,” Ruby poked Lucifer in the side. “We’re here to have fun and celebrate that your brother is getting married. Perk up!”

“I’m not drunk enough yet,” Lucifer said, getting up to head back to the bar for another drink.

* * *

 

“You’re going to be cleaning my windows, right?” Ruby commented.

Lucifer snorted in response. He continued to run his finger through the fog on Ruby’s passenger window, creating vulgar images now that Ruby yelled at him.

“I figured as much,” Ruby sighed. “How does Nick put up with you when you’re like this?”

“We’re usually doing something  _ fun _ by the time I get this drunk. But him being at work kind of stops those things from happening at the moment,” Lucifer replied.

“So you need to get laid to be put back in check. Got it,” Ruby chuckled.

“Why did you stop drinking, by the way? You told me we were supposed to be celebrating,” Lucifer asked, finally turning away from Ruby’s car window.

“I stopped so I could drive your drunk ass home. Last thing we need is for you to ruin some poor taxi driver’s car by being a little shit,” Ruby said

“I am not that bad,” Lucifer insisted with a pout.

Ruby shook her head with an amused sigh, flipping her turn signal on as they approached a traffic light.

“Lucifer, the day you are not a pain in someone’s ass is the day you’re finally buried six feet under. Please don’t have that happen for at least a few more decades,” Ruby said. “I want to see the day where I can give you shit for getting AARP benefits.”

“I’ll try my best,” Lucifer huffed, leaning his head against the window.

The two remained silent as Ruby guided the car past more and more street lights. Lucifer returned to drawing things in the fog on the window, going back to squiggles and random shapes. When he ran out of space, he wiped the whole area down and began just staring out the window. Soon, he started to recognize the buildings of his neighborhood.

“Ruby?” Lucifer spoke up.

“Yes, hot stuff?” Ruby replied, not looking away from the road.

“What the fuck am I doing with my life?”

Ruby glanced over at Lucifer in surprise, immediately pulling over the first chance she got. She turned the car off completely and turned in her seat as she gave Lucifer an incredulous look. Lucifer continued to stare out the window as if Ruby hadn’t stopped the car.

“Where the hell is this coming from? You are  _ never _ this melancholy. I can count on one hand the amount of times you’ve had an existential crisis and have five fingers to spare!” Ruby said.

“I don’t know,” Lucifer moaned, crossing his arms. He still refused to look at Ruby. “Do you know the rate of depression in medical doctors? From the amount of shit they see while on the job to the amount of emotional taxation they experience from always working and never seeing family, it’s a career that sucks the life out of you. And I’m dating a man who’s also in a career that’s just as enabling as mine in creating workaholics. Nick’s a goddamn entry level accountant at the firm and he’s already one! I am making a bee-line straight into becoming a suicide statistic. What the everloving fuck am I doing with my life?!”

Ruby sat silent for several moments as she digested everything Lucifer had just ranted about. She had watched Lucifer work his ass off throughout middle school, high school, and now college so he could become a medical doctor. It had been his dream for  _ years _ . But to suddenly be questioning it all? Out of nowhere? Something wasn’t right.

“Luce…” Ruby began with a soft tone. It caught Lucifer’s attention and had him turning his head to look at Ruby. She rarely, if ever, referred to him with a shortened version of his name. Her nicknames for him were always something unique. “How long have you been feeling like this?”

“I don’t know. I just… I feel  _ exhausted _ . It all feels so pointless,” Lucifer replied.

“Luce,” Ruby said again. She gave him a sympathetic look and reached out to grab his hand. “Luce, you’re burning out. Your life isn’t going in a pointless direction. You’re just burning out. Have you spoken to Nick about this?”

“Not yet. He’s just been so busy lately at the firm. I’m lucky to be getting the free time with him that I’ve been getting,” Lucifer said.

“You need to tell him. The semester is almost up. Maybe he can finagle some vacation time so you two can get out of town for a week or two so you can finally relax,” Ruby insisted.

“I don’t know, Ruby. How is a vacation going to fix anything? I’ll just have the same shit waiting for me once we get back,” Lucifer whined.

“A vacation will give you the chance to forget about shit for a while. You just agreed to be Michael’s Best Man, so I’m betting the amount of responsibilities you’re taking on is becoming overwhelming. Step away, recoup your energy, and come back at full force. You’ll probably even realize that there are a few things you can pawn off on someone else,” Ruby said.

Lucifer groaned and leaned his head against the passenger window.

“I’m just so tired, Ruby,” Lucifer repeated quietly.

“Which is why you’re going to tell Nick about it and let him do all the vacation planning,” Ruby replied. She turned herself back to face forward and turned the car back on. “You need to let other people do the work for now. You’ll feel better once you’ve had a break. Trust me.”

Lucifer remained silent, not having the energy to continue to argue. Ruby was right about one thing. He should probably talk to Nick about how tired he was feeling. Even if the two of them didn’t get the hell outta Dodge, like Ruby was suggesting, Nick would have ideas on how to deal with Lucifer’s exhaustion. Nick was a recent college grad, himself, so he had experience dealing with the stresses a college student goes through. Yes, Lucifer should speak with Nick about this.


	3. Chapter 3

“Do everyone a favor and just have hate-sex with him already,” Lucifer muttered as he delicately wiped away blood and sweat off the side of Michael’s face with a damp paper towel.

“Dean Winchester is not going anywhere near my genitalia,” Michael hissed.

“Michael, you’re lucky the two of you didn’t send each other to the ER again,” Lucifer scolded. “Mom’s going to know exactly what happened the moment she sees your face.”

“I will deal with Mom, Lucifer. Don’t worry about it,” Michael said. He grunted in pain when Lucifer wiped over a sensitive spot, letting Lucifer know to double check the wounds on Michael’s face for any remaining gravel.

“Alright. Can you at least promise me that you’ll stay clear of Dean Winchester in the few months leading up to the wedding? I am good at patching you up, but I can’t make you heal faster than a normal human being. Eve will probably kill you if you have a black eye during the wedding,” Lucifer said.

“Like I said, don’t worry. I’ll make sure not to show up to my own wedding with a black eye,” Michael huffed. Lucifer lectured him every time he got in a fight with Dean Winchester. There wasn’t much Michael could do about it, though, because Lucifer was his best option for minor medical treatment if he wanted to avoid having to go to urgent care. No one else was quite as willing to be as gentle as Lucifer was being at the moment. Not even Eve. Lecturing Michael was Lucifer’s payment for constantly having to deal with scrapes, cuts, and bruises.

“You’ve made it my job to guarantee that,” Lucifer reminded Michael. Lucifer sighed and set the damp paper towel aside to grab the tweezers again so he could remove the few pieces of gravel he missed in Michael’s cheek.

“How about we stop focusing on me for a moment and we focus on you,” Michael suggested, letting out another grunt of pain as Lucifer scraped at a piece of gravel so it would become loose enough for him to grab with the tweezers.

“How about no? Ironically, I’ve been the behaved one between the two of us lately,” Lucifer said.

“Lucifer, Ruby told me about your conversation with her when she was driving you home after the party last weekend,” Michael said. He winced when Lucifer picked out another piece of gravel without being as gentle as usual.

“I don’t see how that’s anything to worry about at the moment, Michael. She told me to speak with Nick. I’ll be doing that,” Lucifer said evenly.

“Come on, Luce. She’s just worried about you. Best friends tend to be that way,” Michael said. He reached up to stop Lucifer from attacking his face with the tweezers again. “You got all the gravel, thank you. No need to dig for any more.”

“Ruby has no reason to be worried about me, Michael. I’m fine!” Lucifer exclaiming, tossing the tweezers onto the counter next to them.

“Being burned out is not the sign of someone who is fine,” Michael pointed out. He sighed and remained silent for a few moments as he looked Lucifer in the face, looking for any microexpression he could latch on to. “Luce, if Ruby is worried then I am worried. My friendship with her isn’t as close as your friendship is, so the fact that she even mentioned this to me says a lot.”

“Michael, we still have a couple weeks of school left before we’re on summer vacation. Just what am I supposed to do about my work load at the moment? I can’t exactly skip studying for finals,” Lucifer said.

“For starters, you can start telling the rest of us  _ no _ when we ask for favors,” Michael suggested, adopting a chagrin look at the reminder that Lucifer didn’t have to be there helping him after his latest clash with Dean Winchester.

“Mikey, you know I’m not going to say no to you if you come to me injured,” Lucifer said wearily. He pulled a clean sheet of paper towel off the roll and moistened it with the squirt bottle of distilled water before returning to wiping the blood and sweat off of Michael’s face. Lucifer couldn’t remember how many times he’d done this before, but it was enough that he knew how much pressure to use so as not to hurt Michael any more than necessary.

“This is why you’d make a wonderful doctor, Luce,” Michael finally spoke up after a minute of neither of them talking. “You don’t say no when someone asks you for help.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Michael,” Lucifer replied.

“You should take care of yourself so you can continue to be there to help when needed,” Michael continued.

“I promise you, I’m trying. It’s just not easy to do at the moment,” Lucifer said. He patted down the area around the scrape with a dry section of paper towel before reaching for some antibiotic ointment to smear over the wound. “Now promise me you’ll stop letting Dean Winchester shove your face into the ground when the two of you get into a fight. We’d all hate to see your pretty face get damaged.”

“Funny,” Michael chuckled, rolling his eyes.

* * *

 

Nick let out a chuckle as Lucifer tried to scoot closer to his back, as if just sitting next to him wasn’t good enough and Lucifer needed to be inside his skin.

“Can I help you?” Nick asked over his shoulder.

“I just need attention…” Lucifer muttered.He pressed his face into Nick’s back and let out a whine as Nick bent forward to slip off his socks.

“That’s always something I can provide,” Nick said. He tossed his socks at his hamper and turned around so he and Lucifer were face-to-face. The loss of bodily contact made Lucifer pout harder. “What’s wrong? You usually wait for me to settle into bed before getting clingy.”

“Ruby thinks I’m burning out. Michael agrees with her,” Lucifer said, ripping that band-aid off right away.

“Oh, Lucifer,” Nick started with a sigh. He reached up to caress the side of Lucifer’s face while giving him a sympathetic look. “A little bit longer and classes will be out for the summer. I can tell you need a break.”

“It’s just so exhausting,” Lucifer said, backing away slightly so he could fling himself at ‘his’ side of Nick’s bed. He stared up at the ceiling. “If I’m burning out already, is it really worth it to continue on to medical school?”

“Of course it is,” Nick insisted. He stood up so he could pull back the covers and slip under them.

“But how is it worth it? Isn’t this just a sign that I wouldn’t be able to handle being a doctor?” Lucifer continued. He noticed Nick already being under the covers and stood up so he could get under the covers, as well.

“No, it’s a sign that you care very much about your ability to be a good doctor in the future. Anyone who’s good at their profession has a little bit of self doubt over their abilities. How they handle that self doubt determines if they continue on with their careers. Lucifer, as needy as you are, you are still a wonderful and caring person who cares so much about others that you’re letting your self doubt eat at you. You just need some time to destress and you’ll see how ridiculous it is to let that happen,” Nick insisted.

Lucifer settled into the mattress and clung to Nick like an octopus. He buried his face into Nick’s neck, letting out a heavy breath that tickled Nick’s skin and caused him to chuckle.

“I really am lucky to have you,” Lucifer said, muffled.

“You are spoiled, but clearly I haven’t been doing it enough lately,” Nick said, hugging Lucifer back. “Now just get some sleep and we’ll talk about this more over breakfast. I have some ideas on how we can ease your stress load.”

“I have an idea on how to ease my stress load right now,” Lucifer said, pulling his face away from Nick to give the man a mischievous smirk.

“Sleep, Lucifer,” Nick scolded, unable to stop a few laughs from escaping. “Giving you an endorphin rush at the moment will keep you awake.”

“I have nowhere to be in the morning,” Lucifer pointed out.

“We promised Ian and Harriet that we’d have lunch with them tomorrow, remember? You stay up late, you’ll wake up late, then we’ll arrive late,” Nick said.

“One of these days I’m going to talk you into doing the irresponsible thing,” Lucifer pouted, returning his face to Nick’s neck.

Next to the bed, Lucifer’s phone started ringing, causing both men on the bed to groan. Lucifer reluctantly pulled away from Nick so he could roll over and grab his phone from the side table. He barely glanced at the caller ID before answering.

“Lilith, I swear to God you better have a good reason for calling me this late at night,” Lucifer said. Behind Lucifer, Nick let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands over his face.

“No one else is answering their phones, Lucifer,” Lilith slurred in response, somehow managing to make it sound like a whine at the same time.

Lucifer took a few even breaths, immediately recognizing how sloshed Lilith was. Okay, he really couldn’t get mad at her for this. Even if she was lying about everyone else not answering their phones, Lilith was  _ not _ in any condition to be driving herself home. He’s rather her call for a ride home than not.

“Lilith, where are you?” Lucifer finally asked. He pushed the covers aside and swung his legs over so he could sit up, throwing an apologetic look to Nick over his shoulder.

“I’m at Daisy’s Dive. It was supposed to be girl’s night out so we could start planning Eve’s surprise birthday party, but the others all ditched me for their latest conquests,” Lilith ranted. She continued to mutter insults about her single friends under her breath, making Lucifer roll his eyes as he pinned his phone to his shoulder so he could put his pants back on.

“I’m about 15 minutes away from there. Think you can sit tight for 15 more minutes?” Lucifer asked.

“Yeah. I don’t have much of a choice, now do I?” Lilith slurred.

“Just pick a stool at the bar so you’re near the bartender or a bouncer and I’ll be there soon,” Lucifer said.

“Okay…” Lilith said.

“I’ll be there soon,” Lucifer repeated before hanging up. He turned to look at Nick with another apologetic look, but Nick waved him off.

“Lucifer, go drive your drunk friend home. I’m not going to be mad at you for making sure she’s safe,” Nick insisted.

“I promise. Straight to bed once I get back,” Lucifer said as he grabbed his sweater and headed out the bedroom door.

Lucifer muttered under his breath the entire way to the bar, debating if he should check if Lilith really called any of the others or not. There wasn’t much point to it, though, because Lucifer  _ was _ the closest one to the bar Lilith was at. All the others were further away. Lucifer was able to get Lilith home the quickest. Letting out a sigh as he parked his car in front of Daisy’s Dive, Lucifer turned the car off and got out.

“There he is!” Lilith exclaimed loudly the moment Lucifer stepped in the door.

Lucifer glanced around, surprised at how small the bar was compared to the larger ones all the girls usually frequented, and approached the stool Lilith was sitting on.

“I take it you’re the ride home?” the bartender asked with an amused look.

“Yeah,” Lucifer admitted. He looked Lilith up and down to get a better idea of how drunk she was. “She hasn’t caused any issues since she got ditched by the others, has she?”

“Nope! She’s been talkative, but hardly the worst customer ever. I’m just glad I didn’t have to worry about calling a taxi for her,” the bartender said.

“Thank you for watching her,” Lucifer said before reaching out to gently grab Lilith’s arm and guide her off the stool. “Okay, Lilith. Come on. Time for you to go home.”

“You came!” Lilith said. She latched onto Lucifer’s arm and looked up at him with wide eyes.

Internally groaning, Lucifer guided Lilith through the bar and out the door. He barely managed to pry her hands off his arm once he got her in the car, but he did it and sighed with relief when he closed the passenger door. Lucifer took a moment to breathe and enjoy his time alone before being stuck in the car with Lilith the entire drive back to her place.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Lilith started as soon as Lucifer turned the car on.

“Yeah?” Lucifer prompted. He intended to keep the interaction as minimal as possible, but Lilith may not make that easy for him.

“We should totally do a joint bachelor/bachelorette party for Eve and Michael,” Lilith said, slurring every other word. “I think they would love that.”

“Mikey’s not going to approve of that, Lilith,” Lucifer said. “He’s already told me he wants to maintain as many traditions as he can convince Eve to follow. That means separate parties.”

“Oh, I’m sure you can convince him to do something different with this,” Lilith insisted.

“No, Lilith. I’m not going to contradict my brother’s wishes. It’s Michael and Eve’s wedding, and everything about it is going to happen in the way  _ they _ want it to happen,” Lucifer insisted.

“Fine,” Lilith pouted.

Lucifer rolled his eyes and kept his focus on the road instead of saying the sarcastic comment that sat on the tip of his tongue. He was going to spend the next two years arguing with Lilith about wedding details. Lucifer needed to learn to pick his battles early, otherwise Lilith was going to drive him crazy by the end of the summer.

Thankfully, Lilith remained silent the rest of the way to her place and Lucifer had some time to fully think over how he was going to make this up to Nick. Nick had  _ said _ he wasn’t going to be mad at Lucifer for leaving to drive Lilith home, but Lucifer knew his boyfriend was at least irritated by it. The two of them weren’t going to get a lot of alone time together until Lucifer was finally on summer vacation. Lucifer would be lucky if Nick was still awake by the time he got back to Nick’s place.

“Home, sweet home,” Lucifer said as he put his car in park in front of Lilith’s place. There were lights on in the living room, telling Lucifer that Lilith’s room mate was still awake, so he knew he was safe dropping her off at the front door. No need to escort her inside. Turning the car off, Lucifer got out and walked around the car to collect Lilith from the passenger seat. He paused a few seconds to take in the amusing sight of her trying to stand up by herself before stepping forward to help her. “Okay, here we go.”

“I am perfectly fine walking by myself,” Lilith snapped. Drowsiness from all the alcohol she drank was finally kicking in, Lucifer noted, making her as short tempered as a sleepy toddler. Rolling his eyes, Lucifer slowly walked beside her up to the door so he’d at least be able to catch her if she tripped.

“The things I do for you,” Lucifer muttered under his breath as soon as they reached the door.

“Thank you so much for driving me home!” Lilith spoke up with renewed cheerfulness, not hearing Lucifer’s comment.

“Of course, Lilith. I’m not going to leave you stranded at a bar, alone, and drunk off your ass,” Lucifer replied.

Lilith stared at Lucifer for several moments. He was beginning to wonder what the inebriated gears in her head were working through when she suddenly grabbed at the front of his shirt.

“Lilith, what the…” Lucifer began, startled. He was quickly silenced when Lilith pulled him down and began kissing him. It took half a second for everything to register in Lucifer’s head before he freaked out and pushed Lilith away, taking a step backward to put more space between the two of them. “Lilith, what the actual fuck?!”

“Come on, Lucifer. You know we would be so much better together than you and that...that...that prick, Nick,” Lilith slurred. She reached for him again, but Lucifer took a few more steps backward and threw the dirtiest glare he was capable of doing at her.

“Lilith, I am in no way interested in you whatsoever. I am  _ happy _ with Nick,” Lucifer hissed. He wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand, suddenly feeling dirty and in need of several gallons of mouth wash. It felt like if he had kissed Ruby. It was outright  _ wrong _ .

“He is not good for you!” Lilith insisted, stamping a foot on the ground. “You will go nowhere fast with the likes of him!”

“I don’t care what you think of him, Lilith! He’s my boyfriend and I love him!” Lucifer yelled back.

The front door opened up to reveal Lilith’s room mate, Penelope. She glanced back and forth between Lucifer and Lilith before understanding as much as she could about the situation. Opening the screen door, she stepped forward and grabbed Lilith’s arm before Lilith could argue back at Lucifer.

“Lucifer, thank you for driving Lilith home. I received a new foster kitten today and I have to nurse it by hand, so I unfortunately wasn’t able to fetch her, myself,” Penelope said. She tugged on Lilith’s arm when it looked like Lilith was going to say something.

“It was no problem,” Lucifer said, not taking his glare off of Lilith. “I leave her in your capable hands. I’m heading back home.”

“Have an excellent night,” Penelope said, dragging Lilith into the house without saying anything else.

Lucifer let out a growl, wiping his mouth a second time, and beelined for his car. This was  _ not _ something to mention to Nick once he got back to Nick’s place. Lucifer and Lilith were definitely going to have a long and extensive discussion the next time he saw her.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby stared at Lucifer for several seconds with an incredulous look on her face.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ruby finally said in disbelief.

“I fucking wish I was,” Lucifer hissed. He grabbed the remote and paused their movie just as Deloris was given the name Sister Mary Clarence. “It was completely out of nowhere! I’ve taken Lilith home drunk loads of times, but this is literally the first time she’s  _ ever _ thrown herself at me like this.”

“Have you told Nick yet?” Ruby asked, a wary look appearing on her face.

“Fuck, no. How the hell do I tell my boyfriend that someone I’m reluctantly friends with threw themselves at me? Nick was irritated that I had to leave to drive her home to begin with!” Lucifer exclaimed.

“Lucifer, you tell him. You find a way to tell him,” Ruby said.

“I’ve been trying to figure out how,” Lucifer insisted.

“How hard is it to say ‘Nick, Lilith assaulted me the other night when I drove her home’?”

“Harder than you realize,” Lucifer shot back. He sighed heavily and hit play on the remote so the movie would start playing again. “There’s never a good time to bring up something like that.”

“The longer you take to tell him, the worse his reaction is going to be,” Ruby pointed out.

“You think I don’t know this? I’ve been panicking the last couple days because I’m still processing it, myself! I know I’ve known Lilith since Kindergarten, but I never expected her to do something like this,” Lucifer said.

“Okay, fine. Moving past you telling Nick. What are you going to do about Lilith, herself? Like you said, she was completely wasted. Do you think she even remembers what she did?” Ruby said.

“I’m willing to bet she does. It didn’t look like she was blackout drunk yet,” Lucifer said.

“Yet you haven’t heard a single word from her the last couple days,” Ruby said to confirm the details.

“Yes. Last I heard from her was that night. I don’t know if she’s waiting for me to confront her first, but it’s not a situation I like,” Lucifer said.

Ruby stood up and began to slowly pace back and forth in front of Lucifer, prompting him to pause the movie again. He knew that look. Ruby was thinking over all the details Lucifer had just given her and she was thinking of a plan of action. It had been a while since he had seen it, and it didn’t bode well for Lilith considering that Ruby never half-assed anything like this. Last time Ruby had her current look was when Lucifer had told her about him crushing on Nick.

“Are we doing anything with everyone any time soon?” Ruby asked, pausing momentarily to look at Lucifer in expectation.

“I know Michael’s planning another engagement celebration because Raphael complained about having to miss the first one. It’ll be smaller, though, and held here at the house. Mostly for everyone who missed the first one. Of course, if anyone else is available then they’re welcome to attend,” Lucifer answered.

“Bingo. There we go,” Ruby said, pointing at Lucifer. “You tell Nick what happened before the party happens. Then, at the party, we confront Lilith in front of everyone.”

“Overreacting much?” Lucifer said with heavy sarcasm.

“Hardly. Lucifer, everyone knows how you barely tolerate her. We confront her in front of everyone, and they’ll back you up if you decide to completely cut her off,” Ruby reasoned.

“I’m still not comfortable with the idea, Ruby. I don’t know how Nick is going to react. He might want to keep all this under wraps so as not to cause a ruckus,” Lucifer said.

Ruby fell silent and returned to her pacing.

“Look, can we just wait until I tell Nick before planning anything? Can we do that?” Lucifer asked before Ruby came up with any other ideas.

“Fine,” Ruby gave in, returning to her seat next to Lucifer. “But you tell me as soon as you tell Nick so I know what kind of timing I have to work with.”

The sound of Michael and Gabriel arguing as they entered the front door interrupted any response Lucifer had. Groaning in irritation, Lucifer gave Ruby a ‘help me’ look before standing up to go play mediator.

“Gabriel, I do not need you to get involved with my feuds, okay?! I’m a big boy! I can handle it myself!” Michael yelled.

“Look, I’m just saying that constantly going after Dean Winchester head-on clearly ain’t working! He’ll get the message if you jump that twig of a little brother he has!” Gabriel yelled back.

“Sam Winchester?” Ruby asked before Lucifer could say anything to interrupt.

“Yes,” Michael replied, turning to address Ruby and Lucifer. “This idiot here thinks beating the crap out of Sam Winchester should be my next move against Dean.”

“It should be!” Gabriel insisted.

“Dude, no. Sam’s cool,” Ruby said. “I’m friends with his girlfriend. She’s done nothing but gush about him. He’s, like, the opposite of his brother.”

“Thank you for providing another reason to stay the hell away from him, Ruby,” Michael spoke up when Gabriel opened his mouth to argue.

“Why the hell are you suggesting that Michael beat the crap out of Dean Winchester’s brother?” Lucifer asked Gabriel directly. Lucifer tried to remember if he knew what Sam Winchester looked like, but he couldn’t remember any of the faces from the many tussles Michael and Dean had gotten into. Not that it mattered. Lucifer wasn’t ever going to meet Sam, anyway. “You do remember that Michael’s problem is with  _ Dean _ , right?”

“Another reason!” Michael exclaimed. “Gabriel, my fight is not with Sam Winchester. Just like Dean hasn’t gotten any of you involved, I am not going to get anyone from  _ his _ family involved. Dean is the  _ only _ fucker who’s ass I plan on kicking.”

“It’s called tactics,” Gabriel snapped.

“Your tactics are faulty, Gabe,” Lucifer said to prevent Michael from arguing back.

“Michael’s weird sense of honor is what’s faulty, Lucifer!” Gabriel said, motioning towards Michael. “Why not go after Sam Winchester?!”

“Because he’s not involved!” Michael yelled. “As long as you all stay the hell away from each other, we’re fine! Dean and I are more than capable of dealing with our issues with each other on our own!”

“Gabriel, Dean won’t be going after Michael if you beat the crap out of Sam. He’ll be going after you. Do you honestly think Michael will have your back if that happens?” Ruby spoke up, putting Gabriel on the spot. When Gabriel attempted to talk a few times, trying to find something to argue with, Ruby rolled her eyes and continued. “Michael’s already made it quite clear to stay away from Sam Winchester, so you’re on your own if you do it anyway. Just listen to him for once and leave Sam alone.”

“What Ruby said,” Michael repeated. “My issue is with Dean and  _ only _ Dean.”

Michael let out a heavy sigh, sharing an irritated look with Lucifer as he walked by and went further into the house. Gabriel threw Lucifer and Ruby a glare for ganging up on him and chased after Michael, clearly still unwilling to end the argument. 

“You’re family is so very interesting,” Ruby commented once Michael and Gabriel were out of earshot.

“Tell me about it,” Lucifer muttered. He sighed and turned to Ruby. “I’ll let you know when I get around to talking to Nick about the issue, okay? I just can’t give you a definite time frame at the moment.”

“Just try to do it sooner rather than later, okay?” Ruby asked.

“Fine,” Lucifer relented. He could promise to  _ try _ to do it soon. However, he wasn’t going to force the opportunity.

* * *

 

Lucifer slowly sipped at his drink as he mindlessly listened to Nick and Raphael talk with Michael. The second engagement party was definitely more sedate than the first one. It was probably best that Michael and Eve decided to do two parties, given who showed up at which party. Unfortunately, though, Lilith had shown up to both. If only Ruby hadn’t been pulled away for a group project last minute.

“How’s my favorite future brother-in-law?” Eve asked as she joined Lucifer, the smirk on her face growing. Lucifer jumped slightly and gave Eve a bitch face for having caught him zoning out.

“I’m under orders to not sneak away to do anything school related,” Lucifer pouted.

“Michael mentioned something about forcing you to relax. You really do put too much on your plate, Lucifer,” Eve said.

“So everyone keeps telling me,” Lucifer sighed. He set his now empty glass down on the nearby table.

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that we’re now 100% locked in on having the wedding in two years instead of next year,” Eve replied, patting Lucifer on the arm.

“Yeah. Yay. Wedding prep and graduation prep at the same time,” Lucifer said with a snort of amusement. Eve swatted at Lucifer’s chest as he let out a laugh. “It’s fine, Eve. You know I wouldn’t give up being Best Man.”

“Thank you for that, by the way. I know you hardly call yourself a close friend of Lilith’s anymore, but you’re going to have to work with her a lot during planning,” Eve admitted.

“I’ll survive. You’re still best friends with her, after all,” Lucifer pointed out.

“Not everyone grows apart from their childhood friendships. Just ask Ruby,” Eve shot back with a smile.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lucifer insisted with feigned ignorance. Yeah, he wasn’t that close with Lilith anymore. His friendship with Ruby, however, was still exactly where it was ten years ago when Ruby’s family moved into town and Ruby was the new kid in school. The two of them weren’t called the Terrible Twins by the teachers for nothing.

“Suuuure,” Eve said. She patted Lucifer’s arm again before letting out a sigh. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go make a couple phone calls.”

Lucifer nodded as Eve turned and walked away. Definitely a more sedate party if the bride-to-be was doing tasks and chores during it.

“I’m going to head out. We still doing lunch on Tuesday?” Raphael asked, suddenly appearing next to Lucifer.

“Of course,” Lucifer said, hiding his surprise from someone sneaking up on him again in such a short amount of time. “I’ll make sure Nick and I are there on time.”

“Alright. Have a good night, Lucifer. Talk to you later,” Raphael said.

Lucifer waved goodbye and watched his brother leave. Lucifer looked around the room in shock when he realized that almost everyone was gone now, leaving him, Nick, Michael, Eve, and Lilith. Was that why Eve stepped away to make her calls? Because no one was around anymore? Shaking his head, Lucifer grabbed his glass and headed over to the wet bar to fill it again.

“Hey!” Michael followed, setting his empty glass in the wet bar sink. “Eve and I have to go do a few things. Would you and Nick be available later, once we’re done?”

“We’ll be here. Nick’s already planning on staying the night,” Lucifer replied. He took a long sip of his drink before turning to face Michael. “Are you really leaving me and Nick alone with Lilith? I doubt she’ll be leaving any time soon.”

“By the looks of it, you’re all set for getting drunk tonight, so I’m sure you’ll survive Lilith. Nick will be here with you,” Michael said.

“The amount of alcohol I’ll need will probably have me passed out by the time you get home,” Lucifer pointed out.

“If you’re in bed, then you’re in bed,” Michael laughed. “We’ll figure it out once we get back.”

“Have fun with whatever tasks are calling for your attention,” Lucifer said.

“I’ll see you later,” Michael said, patting Lucifer on the arm and heading out of the room.

Lucifer turned around and sighed as he looked over Nick and Lilith chatting on the couch. This was the worst possible situation for him to be in. He couldn’t tell Nick, and he couldn’t confront Lilith. Ruby really needed to get her ass over to the house soon.

Several drinks later, Lucifer was finally feeling relaxed enough to joke around with Lilith. Nick verbally poking and prodding him into it helped, too. A drunk Nick was just as sarcastic and sassy as a sober Lucifer.

“You know, now that I think of it, I don’t think you ever explained to me how you and Ruby became friends in the first place,” Nick slurred. He set his glass aside, aware enough of his actions to know to set it down before he spilled his glass all over the carpet. “Like, I know the time frame, but not what happened to cause you two to become friends.”

“Ruby was the new kid in town. I was partnered with her in a class, I think science, for a project. Our friendship kinda developed from there because we had to go over to each other’s houses often for that project. We would get into so much trouble because we would find other things to do instead of our homework. It wasn’t long until teachers were specifically keeping us apart for projects,” Lucifer explained through chuckles.

“So you just clicked,” Nick clarified.

“Yep. It was like two magnets. It’s why Ruby usually has me spend one-on-one time with any guy she thinks has the potential to be more than just a one-night stand. One, so I can test the guy to make sure he’s not some skeevy asshole. Two, so she can find out if he can handle being around me for extensive amounts of time. Boyfriends gotta pass both halves of that test for Ruby to be willing to move him to Stage Two. She and I are stuck with each other for life. No getting past that,” Lucifer explained.

“Out of curiosity, did I have to go through the same thing?” Nick asked, leaning in towards Lucifer with a mischievous look on his face.

“Dude, Ruby had our grandchildren’s names picked out within 24 hours of me telling her I was interested in you. I didn’t  _ have _ to put you through that,” Lucifer scoffed.

Nick burst into laughter, falling onto Lucifer when he wasn’t able to keep himself up anymore.

“Why didn’t you and Ruby ever get together if you’re so close?” Lilith spoke up.

Lucifer fought to roll his eyes. Whether it was because of Lilith’s question or Nick’s continued laughter, though, he wasn’t sure. Sighing, Lucifer pushed Nick back up into a seated position.

“We just weren’t ever interested in each other in that way. We tried, out of expectation from everyone else, but it began to feel incestuous,” Lucifer said.

“Come on, that kiss the other day told me you’d be good at everything else,” Lilith cracked.

“Yeah, that was such a fantastic event,” Lucifer shot back with as much sarcasm as he could muster. Lilith did not just do that. She did not just fucking bring it up on her own. It felt like Lucifer’s stomach dropped when he realized that Nick had froze next to him.

“What do you mean ‘that kiss the other day’?” Nick asked, staring Lilith down.

Lilith froze again, giving Lucifer a horrified look. She clearly expected Lucifer to had said something to Nick about it already.

“Nick, it was nothing,” Lucifer said immediately.

“Nothing?” Nick repeated, turning his attention to Lucifer. “This so-called fantastic event was nothing?”

Lucifer felt like he couldn’t breathe. He had forgotten that Nick, while able to give sarcasm, was shit at recognizing it when he was drunk. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Lilith thought it was a good idea to throw herself at me when I drove her home the other night while she was sloshed drunk. I pushed her away immediately. I even yelled at her for it, which attracted her room mate. I promise, Nick, it was nothing!” Lucifer insisted.

“Sure. Calling the event fantastic is exactly what you’d do if you ended up pushing the person away,” Nick snapped. He stood up and walked across the room to put distance between him and Lucifer.

“Come on,” Lucifer said. He gave Lilith a desperate look, motioning towards Nick. “You obviously remember the details. Tell him what happened, Lilith!”

Lilith sunk deeper into her seat, looking back and forth between Lucifer and Nick while saying nothing.

“She’s clearly not going to lie for you, Lucifer,” Nick hissed, his face filled with rage.

“I’m not lying!” Lucifer yelled back. He stood up, as well, so he and Nick would be at eye-level with each other.

“What else have you been doing behind my back? Are you really as busy as you claim to be?” Nick pushed for answers.

“I’ve absolutely been as busy as I’ve been saying. And I’ve done nothing behind your back. Nick, I would never cheat on you!” Lucifer said.

“Yeah. Sure,” Nick replied. Shaking his head, Nick stormed out into the front hallway. “Fuck staying here tonight.”

“Nick, wait,” Lucifer called out, chasing after Nick. He attempted to take Nick’s car keys away, but Nick shoved Lucifer away in anger. “Nick,  _ don’t _ drive yourself anywhere. Please, just don’t. You’re drunk. Michael will be back soon enough. If you really don’t want to stay the night, he’ll drive you home. Or we can wake up one of my parents.”

“I am  _ not _ staying in the same building as you any longer,” Nick snapped. He was out the front door before Lucifer could make another attempt at grabbing his car keys.

Lucifer pressed his back against the wall and slid down. He still felt like he couldn’t breathe. That didn’t just happen. Nick didn’t just storm out because he thought Lucifer had cheated on him.

“I…” Lilith began, appearing in the doorway between the front hallway and the main living room.

Lucifer looked up at her, a glare growing on his face, and stood up to confront her.

“Why didn’t you say anything? A simple ‘Yes, Lucifer is right’ would have sufficed!” Lucifer hissed.

“It was just supposed to be a joke! Just a joke! We make jokes with each other all the time!” Lilith defended herself.

Lucifer took a moment to take a few even breaths in an attempt to calm himself down before the anger growing in the pit of his stomach exploded. He clenched his hands into fists, but that didn’t stop the shaking.

“If you just ended my relationship for the sake of a fucking joke, I will  _ end _ you,” Lucifer responded. “Fucking wait down here for Michael to drive you home.”

With that, Lucifer turned and headed for the stairs to go up to his bedroom. He’d have to call Nick in the morning, when both of them were sober. Nick would see reason when he was sober. Nick  _ knew _ how much Lilith irritated Lucifer. It wasn’t possible that Nick would actually believe that Lucifer could cheat on him, especially with Lilith of all people.

It had only felt like Lucifer had been laying down for a few minutes when his phone began ringing loudly. He sat up, groaning over the headache he had, and reached for his phone. He could barely see the caller ID telling him that it was Nick’s parents’ landline calling him.

“Hello?” Lucifer answered, confused.

“Lucifer…” a woman said. Lucifer recognized that voice.

“Mrs. Landersen. Good morning. Bit early, but good morning,” Lucifer said. The pit in his stomach returned. Nick must have gone to his parents house to rant. But why would Mrs. Landersen decide to yell at Lucifer over the phone first thing in the morning?

“Oh, Lucifer,” Mrs. Landersen repeated, letting out a sob. It caught Lucifer’s attention immediately.

“Mrs. Landersen, what’s wrong?”

“I… Lucifer, did you see Nick at all last night?”

_ Wait, what? _ Lucifer thought. Clearly Nick didn’t go home to his parents, then.

“Yeah. We kinda got into an argument and he left before I could stop him. He’s not here,” Lucifer admitted. Might as well get his side out before Nick had the chance to tell anyone that Lucifer had cheated on him.

“What time did he leave?” Mrs. Landersen continued. Her crying continued to echo in Lucifer’s ear, making him uneasy.

“It had to be nearly 11pm. Why? Mrs. Landersen, what’s wrong?” Lucifer repeated.

“Lucifer…” Mrs. Landersen said with a whimper. “Nick hit a telephone pole after he left your place last night. He was in the ER all night. The… the doctors couldn’t stop the bleeding in his head. Lucifer, Nick’s dead.”


	5. Chapter 5

Lucifer stared blankly at the casket in front of him, not registering any of the words being spoken by the minister. The casket was closed. Lucifer was going to have nightmares about its contents for weeks.

Mr. Landersen had refused to let Lucifer see Nick before they closed the casket at first, having asked Lucifer to stay with Mrs. Landersen in the funeral home’s waiting room, but Lucifer insisted. He said he needed to see Nick one last time before Nick was permanently six feet under. It was an argument Lucifer regretted the moment the funeral director removed the sheet from Nick for Mr. Landersen and Lucifer to see. It was hard to explain to Mrs. Landersen why Lucifer had run out the front door to throw up outside without scarring her, as well. No amount of cadaver makeup could hide the bruises and damage caused by Nick’s face hitting his windshield because he never buckled in. It was for the best that Mr. Landersen never let Mrs. Landersen see Nick.

“Hey,” Ruby said quietly, prodding Lucifer in the side to get his attention.

Lucifer’s attention returned to his surroundings. Everyone was standing and slowly making their way out the door to prepare for the funeral procession to the cemetery. Even Mrs. Landersen wasn’t sitting next to him anymore.

“Sorry,” Lucifer replied. He stood up with Ruby, smoothing out the few wrinkles that had formed on his suit jacket while he had been sitting.

“It’s okay. You just zoned out there for a little bit,” Ruby said.

“I know. I… I just…” Lucifer trailed off, his eyes returning to the casket.

“Lucifer, it’s not your fault. You told me, yourself. You tried to make him wait for a ride home. You even tried to take his keys away. It’s  _ not _ your fault,” Ruby asserted.

Lucifer nodded blindly, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything in response. He hadn’t told Ruby  _ why _ Nick wanted to leave that night. Only that they had an argument and Nick stormed off. Lucifer really didn’t need the pity that came with people knowing that his boyfriend had died thinking Lucifer had cheated on him.

“Come on. Mr. and Mrs. Landersen will be waiting for us in their car,” Ruby said, lightly pulling on Lucifer’s arm to get him moving towards the main aisle of the church.

Lucifer followed Ruby to the front entrance hall of the church, ignoring all the looks the funeral attendees were giving him. He didn’t want to deal with  _ anyone  _ trying to give him condolences. Not right now. Lucifer’s own parents had been using kid gloves with him the last few days. Lucifer didn’t want any more of that.

“Wait here, please? I need to use the ladies’ room,” Ruby asked.

“Of course,” Lucifer said. Giving him a smile, Ruby walked away and towards the bathrooms.

Lucifer approached the table set up in the entrance hall that was full of pictures of Nick. Nick crawling for the first time. Nick’s first day in Kindergarten. Nick with his middle school basketball team. Nick all dolled up for his Junior Prom. Nick with Lucifer the first time he had brought Lucifer home to meet his parents. Lucifer stared at that last one for he didn’t know how long.

“I’m sorry,” Lilith said, suddenly appearing next to Lucifer.

“Not now, Lilith,” Lucifer snapped in return.

“But Lucifer…” Lilith began to argue, but she fell silent when Lucifer turned his attention away from the memorial table to glare at her.

“Not now,” Lucifer repeated.

When he was satisfied that Lilith was going to listen to him, Lucifer turned his attention back to the table. Half the pictures on the table had his own face in them. He had no idea how Nick’s parents got their hands on so many pictures of him and Nick in such a short amount of time, but it said a lot. It made it more painful to know that Nick died feeling betrayed.

“Okay, I’m back. Let’s go,” Ruby said as she approached. She threw a questioning glance at Lilith but said nothing when Lilith walked away.

“Yeah. The funeral staff are about to load the casket into their hearse. Let’s go join the Landersen’s in their car,” Lucifer said.

Ruby grabbed Lucifer’s arm again and led him out the door to go outside. She said something to nearly everyone who said something to them, but Lucifer wasn’t paying attention. All he saw was Mr. and Mrs. Landersen standing outside their car, at their respective doors, as they watched their son’s casket get loaded into the hearse from a distance.

The entire ride to the cemetery was quiet. It was clear that three of the passengers had reached their emotional limits, and Ruby didn’t want to accidentally say anything that would trigger them before they reached their destination. Her rule was always ‘If you didn’t have to tell Lucifer to shut up, then you should shut up, yourself.’ It wasn’t until they were at the cemetery and at Nick’s grave site that Ruby spoke up again.

“It’s a beautiful day today. Nick would have loved today,” Ruby said.

“Yeah. All the windows in his apartment would have been open,” Lucifer replied. He turned his head to look out at the rest of the cemetery, Ruby’s statement making him wonder if he would have even noticed how nice of a day it was if Nick was still alive. Lucifer would probably be kissing ass to make up for his slip of the tongue that had Nick angry in the first place.

It was another several minutes of half-listening to the minister before they finally got to the part that Lucifer was dreading: lowering the casket before letting everyone toss handfuls of dirt onto it. Part of Lucifer wanted to jump in with Nick and let them bury him alive. Part of him wanted to suddenly hear banging on the top of the casket, forcing the cemetery workers to raise it back up and let Nick out. Both parts were in agreement to deny what was happening.

“Lucifer,” Ruby prompted, lightly elbowing him.

Lucifer glanced around and realized that everyone else was waiting on him. Not even Mr. and Mrs. Landersen had stepped forward to begin. Swallowing hard, Lucifer stepped forward and grabbed a handful of dirt, but he paused before he could drop it onto the clean top of the casket. His raised fist began to tremble as it hovered over the hole. Lucifer felt tears drip off his face, but he didn’t remember starting to cry. Inhaling sharply, Lucifer opened his hand to drop the dirt at the same moment he began to sob. He fell to his knees, barely registering Ruby’s presence next to him as he hugged himself around the waist. Michael appeared on Lucifer other side, having rushed forward from his place in the group, and both Michael and Ruby pulled Lucifer up so they could get him away from the grave site.The three of them were several yards away when Lucifer ripped his arms away from Ruby and Michael, only to fall to his knees again as he continued to sob.

“Lucifer,” Michael murmured, kneeling next to Lucifer.

“Don’t touch me!” Lucifer screeched when Michael reached out to put a hand on Lucifer’s shoulder.

Michael quickly retracted his hand, exchanging a horrified look with Ruby. Neither of them had ever heard Lucifer sound like that before, and it wasn’t a sound they were likely to want to hear again. Both of them hovered around Lucifer awkwardly, not knowing what else to do.

“Just… just leave me alone,” Lucifer moaned between sobs, curling further into himself. Michael and Ruby stayed put for a few moments before listening to Lucifer’s request and heading back to the grave site.

Lucifer didn’t know how long he had been alone for, but his sobbing had long gone silent when someone else appeared next to him. He pointedly said nothing, figuring it was either Michael or Ruby again, and focused on steadying his breathing. It just wouldn’t do to be actively sobbing in the car when Mr. and Mrs. Landersen were driving him home.

“Lucifer…” Lilith spoke up, breaking the silence.

Lucifer let out an audible groan. What did he do to deserve such punishment? He gave himself a moment to breathe a few more times before standing back up and turning towards Lilith.

“What do you want?” Lucifer asked slowly.

“Lucifer, I’m so sorry,” Lilith said. She gave him a sad look. All Lucifer wanted to do in that very moment was to smack it off her face.

“And just what do you have to be sorry about, Lilith?” Lucifer snapped, his voice not hiding an ounce of malice.

“I...I…” Lilith stuttered as she tried to find the words.

“Don’t you remember, Lilith? It was just supposed to be a joke,” Lucifer said, leveling a glare at Lilith. She fell silent again, having no rebuttal. Lucifer let out a noise of disgust, shaking his head as he hissed, “We will  _ never _ speak of this again.”

Lucifer wiped his face off roughly as he walked away to rejoin Mr. and Mrs. Landersen.


End file.
